SEATTLE—Since taking over the Arizona program four years ago, Tommy Lloyd has implemented one of the fastest-paced offenses in the country. The Wildcats ranked in the top 20 nationally in adjusted tempo each of the first three years, with the move to the more physical Big 12 Conference this season slowing things down slightly.
But by and large, Arizona wants to run whenever it can. And Akron, its opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament appears more than willing to try and keep up. Assuming it can.
“People can say that until they actually play us and see how fast we push the pace,” KJ Lewis said Thursday.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats (22-12) open play Friday at 4:35 p.m. PT at Climate Pledge Arena against No. 13 Akron (28-6), which at 71.5 possessions per game is 16th this season in adjusted tempo. Arizona is 55th, at 70.0, but during nonconference play it played eight of 11 games in the 70s or 80s in terms of possessions.
And history has shown that when teams try to run with Arizona, at least from outside the power conferences, it doesn’t go well for them.
Tommy Lloyd Arizona teams have played 28 non-power conference schools in games that have hit at least 70 possessions.
They’ve won by an average of 30.5 points. I would wager extreme coin that Friday’s game vs. Akron hits 70 possessions.
— Matthew Winick (@matthewwinick) March 18, 2025
If any part of the Zips’ offensive game plan looks familiar it’s because it came from Arizona, at least partly. Coach John Groce said Lloyd’s first UA team, the 2021-22 squad that won 33 games and reached the Sweet 16, was among a handful of teams he studied in the offseason when choosing to change Akron’s offense.
“Every coach is a thief,” Lloyd said. “A lot of best ideas are things you get watching something on TV or decide to go study another team. That’s cool that people do it. I’m doing it all the time. I’m watching (Akron’s) team playing and I’m like oh, that’s interesting. I think that’s how the coaching mind works.”
Akron has won 21 of its last 22 games behind an attack that averages 84.6 points and takes nearly 30 3-pointers per game. The Zips shoot 36.4 percent from 3, with seven different players shooting at least 35 percent, and as any Arizona fan knows defending the 3 has been an adventure this season.
“We got to play great defense and then we just got to play to our strengths,” Caleb Love said. “Just being totally locked in on the defensive end so we can get out in transition, making them miss, limiting them to one shot, and that’s when we play at our best.”
Where Arizona should have a distinct advantage is in the size department. Nine of Akron’s 13 scholarship players are 6-foot-3 or under, with 6-foot-8 James Okonkwo the Zips’ “big man.”
“If you play a little smaller, you might be better at X but maybe not quite as good at Y,” Groce said. “Like anything else you rob Peter to pay Paul, there’s advantages and disadvantages to what you do with that. It’s not something we can control, we certainly recognize their size and they do a great job with their size, they do a great job rebounding it, they do a great job posting it.”
Arizona is currently listed as a 14.5-point favorite, per FanDuel Sportsbook, with an over/under of 166.5. The Wildcats are 4-3 in the NCAA Tournament under Lloyd, reaching the Sweet 16 twice while getting bounced in the first round in 2023 by Princeton.
Akron is making its third NCAA appearance in four years, including last season when it lost to Creighton in the first round. But like the Wildcats, the Zips have a very different team from a year ago and thus those previous performances have no bearing on the upcoming one.
“I think that you have to understand each team’s journey is unique and it’s their first time as a team,” Lloyd said. “You can’t just say, hey, two years ago this happened and expect that lesson to be learned by everybody. I think that the coolest thing is about this tournament is it’s one and done. It’s the coolest thing and the worst thing about it all together. So you have to have your team prepared to come out to play, come out and play consistent basketball. I think you really have to call on the things you’ve done all year. That’s the approach that I take.”